If given the choice between receiving $100 or learning how to code Android and iOS apps, which would you choose? Better yet, if given the choice between coding the next AngryBirds or an app that works toward saving the environment, which would you choose?
Leo Grand, who has been unable to find a job since 2011, recently came in contact with programmer Patrick McConlogue, who afforded exactly that choice. Leo’s no fool, and he could have taken the attitude, “Take the money and run,” but chose to invest in himself and, by extension, the environment. McConlogue helped Grand learn how to code in Javascript over the course of a few months, and Grand’s first app, available for 99¢, for both iOS and Android, is called TreesForCars, a carpooling app. (All proceeds from the app go directly to Mr. Grand.)
Carpooling is a great way to reduce fuel consumption, which saves money in your pocket and reduces carbon dioxide emissions, which goes a long way toward saving the environment, as Leo Grand explains whilst strolling through a gas-station-turned-park in New York City. Carpooling with others outside of your job or immediate neighborhood could be difficult, considering how disconnected we are as human beings. TreesForCars helps users who have rides to offer, or are looking for rides, to get together to complete a trip, whether to work or across town.
According to one study, carpooling saves about 85 million gallons of gasoline a year, worth about $1.1 billion, a significant environmental impact when you consider that amounts to about 8.3 million tons of carbon dioxide, as well as other pollutants associated with automobile transportation. Aside from this, carpooling also reduces highway and city traffic congestion.
Image © TreesForCars
